A Toolkit for a Noisy Mind: How John Green Manages Anxiety, Depression, and Intrusive Thoughts

A Toolkit for a Noisy Mind: How John Green Manages Anxiety, Depression, and Intrusive Thoughts

Plus, how the bestselling author writes his way out of despair.

John Green is the award-winning, #1 bestselling author of books including Looking for Alaska, The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, and The Anthropocene Reviewed. With his brother, Hank, John has co-created many online video projects, including Vlogbrothers and the educational channel Crash Course. His most recent book is Everything Is Tuberculosis.

In this episode we talk about:

  • John's toolkit for managing thought spirals and dispair
  • Why he wrote a whole book about the thing that terrifies him
  • How he maintains hope in a chaotic and unfair world
  • Finding the "self"
  •  Shame reduction through naming
  • What John learned from his time as a chaplain in a pediatric hospital
  • His current view of God
  • And the question of how much––or how little––we should be sharing about ourselves with other people

Get the 10% with Dan Harris app here

Sign up for Dan's free newsletter here

Follow Dan on social: Instagram, TikTok

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel



Join Dan and Emmy Award-winning journalist Allison Gilbert at 92NY on May 17th for a live conversation about how mindfulness can deepen connection and combat loneliness, available in person and via streaming. Register here.

Join Dan, Sebene Selassie and Jeff Warren for Meditation Party, a 3-day immersive retreat at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, October 16–18, 2026. Register here.

This episode is sponsored by:

Paleo Valley — 100% grass-fed beef sticks made without preservatives or additives. Get 15% off at https://www.paleovalley.com/happier or use code HAPPIER at checkout

Square — Business tools with AI, smart reporting, and payments all in one place. Get up to $200 off Square hardware at https://www.square.com/go/happier

Gainbridge — Guaranteed-rate financial products with no hidden fees. Learn more at https://www.gainbridge.com

LinkedIn Ads — Reach the right professionals with precision targeting. Spend $250 and get a $250 credit at http://www.linkedin.com/happier

To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/10HappierwithDanHarris

Episoder(1032)

Dr. Amishi Jha & Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt

Dr. Amishi Jha & Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt

Dr. Amishi Jha, a neuroscientist and an associate professor of psychology at the University of Miami, and Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt of the U.S. Army might seem like an unlikely pair, but they have worked...

6 Jul 201654min

Mario Batali

Mario Batali

World-renowned chef Mario Batali has 28 restaurants, 10 cookbooks, a daytime cooking show, a food emporium in New York City, and now plans for a food theme park. He also -- somehow -- finds time to ke...

29 Jun 201638min

Dr. Mark Epstein

Dr. Mark Epstein

Buddhist psychiatrist and author Dr. Mark Epstein has for years written about the overlap between Western psychotherapy and Eastern Buddhist philosophies. Epstein sat down with Dan Harris to talk abou...

22 Jun 20161h 8min

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington has a multimillion-dollar media website that reacts to world events by the millisecond, she's a mother of two -- and yet she says she always gets a good night's sleep. Not only that...

15 Jun 20161h

Adam Shankman

Adam Shankman

Acclaimed movie producer and director Adam Shankman is best known for his upbeat, family-friendly movies, including "Hairspray," "A Walk to Remember" and "The Pacifier," but behind the scenes, Shankma...

8 Jun 201641min

Emma Seppala

Emma Seppala

Success and happiness: Can you have one without the other? Many may assume that these two things are at cross purposes but Emma Seppala, the science director of Stanford University's Center for Compas...

5 Jun 201654min

Chade-Meng Tan

Chade-Meng Tan

Chade-Meng Tan was employee No. 107 at Google. But the software engineer's career took a turn when he began teaching meditation to the company's employees and executives, adopting the job title of "Jo...

1 Jun 201653min

Chodo and Koshin

Chodo and Koshin

Thinking about death can be supremely difficult. Many of us try not to think about it at all – until we have no choice. But two Zen Buddhist monks are using meditation, and a generous dose of humor, t...

25 Mai 20161h 6min

Populært innen Helse

fastlegen
rss-gukild-johaug
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
hvordan-har-du-det-mann
psykodrama
relasjonspodden-med-dora-thorhallsdottir-kjersti-idem
leger-om-livet
rss-garne-damer
foreldreradet
bak-fasaden-en-reise-i-livet-med-sykepleier-ine
morten-ramm-lar-kakla-ga-til-du-sovner
rss-lopedrommen
hjernesterk
klimaks
hormonelle-frida
rss-femihelse
rss-skravla-gar
g-punktet
sinnsyn
rss-sunn-okonomi